Let me preface this post by saying, right out of the starting gate, that I am disgruntled. I was not planning to be sitting in front of the computer this lovely Saturday morning, composing my brilliant and witty blog. No, not at all. I was planning on being at THE BEACH with my wonderful friends from college, enjoying some rare girl-time. Some relaxing, quiet-time. (That is code for NO KIDS ALLOWED time.) Instead, due to an unrelenting cold/sinus-infection and a sick relative who needs visiting and looking after, I am here ,at home, typing away. So, when it became clear that I would be home this weekend, PC and I decided to use the time "wisely".
Bella, as I've mentioned before has a lovely little case of ADHD. And one of the gifts this condition bestows upon anyone lucky enough to live with it is an inability to organize one's environment. And by inability - I mean, it is EXTREMELY difficult for some people - especially Bella, to organize their environment. It can be done - but it is a learned skill and takes years and years of coaching and practice and discipline and routine. Bella has been too young to really understand this process- so her room is always a complete and utter disaster. That's not to say that we haven't tried. We have bins for Barbies. We have a beautiful toy box to hold her toys. We have tubs for Polly Pockets and bins for horses and a 3-drawer system for dress up clothes. The problem is that Bella can't seem to keep the horses in the horse bin and the dress-up clothes in the dress-up bins. So, she is constantly loosing things. And I don't mean little things like American Girl doll shoes - I mean big, important things - like HER shoes. Because they are lost somewhere in one of the bins underneath the horses and necklaces and Barbies and playing cards that are all jumbled together.
The other issue is that Bella is so creative that she plays with everything at once. I really believe that's a very GOOD thing. I think it speaks to her creative nature and her ability to see things in a different way.(Carrie has a name for this and swears that is is a sign of artistic intelligence and ability.) So it is not at all uncommon to walk into her room and see it transformed into a "Horse Fashion Show". So All of the Barbies are out sewing "horse fashions" - which means that the Project Runway Fashion kit is out and the fabrics are all over the floor - along with all of the little pins (ouch) and the trims, and maybe there are feathers everywhere because one of the horses needed feather trim on her gown and the only way to accomplish that was to cut up a feather boa. And of course - let's not overlook the fact that all of the dress-up clothes are also out because Bella needed a gown to wear as the "Fashion Show Announcer" and she had to dress one of her dolls up as well and then makeup needed to be done...you get the picture.
So, after one of these particulary bad episodes where we had told Bella to clean up the mess and she had spent what seemed like hours cleaning it up - behind closed doors - and she had just made it messier, we decided that we ALL needed help. So - of course who did we call? Carrie - Mommy mentor and interior decorator extra-ordinairre. Carrie took one look at the disaster and pointed us to IKEA. She suggested a particular type of shelving unit that can hold bins and baskets that we can label - giving Bella guidance and a system for knowing "what-goes-where."
So - this is what PC and I are about to attempt. We have already purchased the shelving unit and are poised on the brink of "construction". Now, while this project might seem like a walk thru a daisy field to most of you - let me give you a bit of history. PC and I SUCK at ANY TYPE of home project activity. One time, we were attempting to put a simple bookcase together and we managed to put a HUGE hole in the wall of our apartment! I had a professional painter once tell me to "keep that man away from a paint brush and can at ALL costs." We have never been very good at putting IKEA furniture together. I remember a certain entertainment center causing PC to almost stroke out - and he was much younger then. I have vauge recollections of him shouting about suing the Sweedish government for allowing IKEA to even exist. About IKEA being some sort of Sweedish government conspiracy...in other words - it was BAD. I'll admit - I am frightened about what today holds for us. I am worried about the new vocabulary words Jack might pick up. I hope that PC and I come out of this with all of our fingers and toes. And while this might make some of you laugh - it might make some of you, who know us very well, say "Me too".
We are not "Do-it-yourself-ers". We're not. We're more like "Let's hire a guy to do this for us while we go out to lunch-ers". But, the redecorating bills are getting a bit steep, and PC thinks that we can do this ourselves. (In other words - PC isn't paying a "guy" to do this one for us.)So, here we are, drinking our coffee - readying ourselves. We are silently telling ourselves that we are older and wiser and more patient. We are trying to convince ourselves that this is not brain surgery. That high school students can put these things together. That people with far less education and far fewer resources can manage to put these things together. That this will be a wonderful way for us to spend time together - accomplishing something that will make our lives better. And maybe it will.
But - I'm really thinking that it will be a day of hell. That PC will be mad and ranting about the Sweedish government again by 10:30. That I will be fed up with him and start yelling at him by 11:30. That I will tell him to "Just leave - just GO! I will do this BY MYSELF!" by 11:35 - and then fake an injury by 11:47 because I will realize that I have no freaking clue what I'm doing and I do need his help. I DO think that we will get this thing put together by midnight tonight. I just am not sure how that will be accomplished.
But, hey - at the very least - it will probably be a pretty funny blog posting....
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